Warren Sapp
Warren Sapp channeled his inner grumpy old man when SI.com’s Peter King asked him about the inability of Derrick Brooks, Sapp’s friend and former Tampa Bay teammate, to land another NFL job after getting cut by the Bucs following the 2008 season.
“I'll tell you the real reason,'' Sapp told King. "Because it's not the same for the veterans anymore. The NFL doesn't need us. In this NFL, the old vets don't factor in. The kids don't listen to nobody. Nobody! My last year in Oakland, I'd try to talk to some of the kids. Tommy Kelly, Terdell Sands. But they had no interest. I thought the ghosts in that building were so valuable, but none of the young guys cared. Once in a while, one of the old legends would come in the building, or make a trip. Jack Tatum would be around, and I'd say, 'You know who that dude is? You know how he played?' And the kids would be like, 'Nah, I don't care.' ”
In a future interview, Sapp will no doubt note he had to run uphill, through the snow, to land that infamous cheap shot on Green Bay lineman Chad Clifton in 2002.
Oh, and by the way – stay the hell off Warren’s lawn, too.
I mean, seriously – isn’t this the kind of thing codgers have been saying about young whipper-snappers since the dawn of time? Isn’t it painting with way too broad a brush?
Even Terrell Owens, a guy who seems to believe he has all the answers, speaks freely about the influence Jerry Rice had on him when he broke into the NFL with the 49ers. And if you were to walk into the Eagles’ locker room, you wouldn’t get too far before coming upon someone who owes his success, at least in part, to a predecessor.
Sheldon Brown was mentored by Troy Vincent, Quintin Mikell by Brian Dawkins. And just last weekend, second-year safety Quintin Demps mentioned a key piece of advice Dawkins gave him last season: “Cherish what you’re doing.”
“You’ve got to cherish the game,” said Demps, Dawk's heir apparent. “You’ve got to love it. You can’t just come out here and go through the motions, because you won’t last in the NFL.”
That same day, guard Todd Herremans talked about what he had learned from former linemates Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan, both of whom were very “businesslike,” in Herremans’ estimation.
“It didn’t seem like a game, the way they played it,” he said. “That’s one thing I’ll take from them: They made it seem like a business. I guess that’s how I’ll approach it. That’s how I started to approach it, the last couple years.”
There will always be exceptions, but I’ve got to believe that for the most part if you want to be good, you watch, listen and learn. It’s just way too tough a game to go the lone-wolf route.
Sapp obviously feels otherwise. And he likes his lawn the way it is, too.
Comments
Hey Gordie, amusing piece, I always enjoy it when someone heckles Warren, even if I find his quotes entertaining. Will say however that anecdotal examples are as easy to call out as it is for Warren to paint with that broad brush you mention. And even in doing so half of your examples are long seasoned vets. Terrel Owens is like 103 this year or something. I'm pretty sure he uses medicare to pay for his supplements. Not saying you're wrong, just that seems like you're just swinging the same door in the opposite direction.
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